Lost Little Light
by TsukixnoEvernight
Summary: For two weeks and three days, the prince of Hamel has been missing. Eve Mavernia has conducted a search for him and stumbles upon a small cave close to the sea. Inside, she finds Chung Seiker, but not the same person as he was before. The White Wolf of Hamel, silent assassin, Deadly Chaser, is blind. Pairings: Empress x Deadly Chaser.
1. Lost

**Chapter 1**

* * *

_~ Lost ~_

* * *

For months, he had been stuck in a cave dripping with salt water, covered in barnacles and stinking strands of kelp. He was chained to the very back of the cave, where the water sloshed in from the nearby ocean and sprayed him without mercy.

It hadn't been that despairing and miserable the first few days. He struggled to get out, attempted summoning his Silver Shooters, and even returned his Freitunier into its Guardian Stone state so to hope in lessening the shackles around his feet. It was all to no avail, he thought on the fifth day, and that was when they came in.

He could never see them; they were always avoiding the dim light straying in from outside and always seemed to make sure he could never spot them. But he felt their magics, and shuddered everytime they came in contact both physically and mentally.

There was only two of them, but that was more than enough to break down the deadly assassin. The first time was just prodding his consciousness and coiling around the barrier over his mind. The second and third time, however, was ripping his mind apart.

They took all of his memories except the ones about that red-haired boy and everyone who came with him. He couldn't even remember their names now, but he recalled welcoming a black-haired girl to the group. She wielded a spear, and he knew, not remembered, that he had fought alongside her countless times.

The fifth time they came, he wasn't as shattered yet; he still struggled, even if it was futile. He still had the spirit to not scream, to not cry, to not whimper in fear. But that was when he didn't know what they brought in.

Fish.

He had been deeply confused when he saw the flopping shapes of dark green and sapphire in the pool of water that had gathered at his feet. Of course, he hadn't been fully awake and functioning at that time; the previous mental experiments performed upon him had left him extremely disoriented. He found out later, when they began to live.

Those two wretched beings dumped a pail of fresh seawater into the back of the cave. Everyday, the tide would bring in a little bit more of the ocean, giving the carnivorous fish even more space to move around in. He had been chained a little high up from the ground, but soon, that wouldn't matter.

The water had reached to his feet once, but only once. That one time had been enough for him to lose bits of flesh from his heel and his toes though, which would be irreplaceable. The salt stung his wounds, and, in time, they were infected.

Then they took his sight.

It was acid, pure acid from the depths of Hamel that they poured into his eyes. The agony wasn't bearable for him anymore, nor was this torture; he screamed and sobbed and went mad. It wasn't possible for a human to stay sane after two weeks, and the White Wolf of Hamel wasn't an exception.

His beautiful cerulean eyes were his only protection in this cave here, and had always been his first security wall. He would see things before anyone else would, and dispatch of them before they could deal any harm to his friends. He would shoot someone down faster than anyone else precisely because he was the swiftest to detect them. The gift of sight had always blessed him, always made sure he stayed alive. And he even realized it, and used it to his advantage. He had honed it almost to perfection, hence why he was also referred to as the Deadly Chaser.

Years of working alongside with his ability of vision was taken away in less than a minute.

It only took that for him to give up on the will to live. He began to reach for the predators stalking beneath him, wishing that they could bite him until he bled to blissful death. It was better dead than alive right now, he thought. And so he let himself be targeted at, something that he would have never done if he were the boy he used to be.

But the pain from the large bite taken out of his right foot was enough for him to fight back. It was an animalistic instinct to live that rose inside of him, and he felt his bitten foot connect with a slimy body. Snaps and wildly-thrown kicks were traded, until finally they were too exhausted to continue. There was a large splash and nothing more. The skirmish between predator and prey was over, and both were still alive.

The days inched slowly by.

He lay limply on the shackles now, letting the cold steel of the chains bite into his thin wrists. He was starved and shivering, even though his torturers made sure he ate enough to stay alive. Winter must have come; the air was frigid, numbing the pain all over his body. A silly part of him even hoped that it would get cold enough for the water to freeze over and get rid of those swimming monsters beneath him.

He heard them approach again and shrunk as small as he could while being chained. He almost shut his eyes to block out the sight when he remembered that he was blind and that it wouldn't make a difference otherwise. The darkness suffocated him from all sides, no matter where he turned. Even if he strained, would the light ever come any closer? Would he ever see again? It was a hopelessly small, miserable world that he had been stuck into. The twinkling star in the distance was always too far for his arms to reach, no matter how hard he stretched.

But he felt it. Was that heat? It radiated from the footsteps that were coming towards him, and if he were still the Chung from before, he would have rejoiced and called out. But he wasn't. He trembled uncontrollably in terror; his voice had left him long ago. The only sound was the ripples that the fish left behind with their fins.

"Chung?" It was his name. His name. The name that he hadn't heard in forever, the one that he had almost forgotten about. To him, right now, he was a nameless, dying soul. "Chung? Are you fine?"

He could barely discern the gender from the voice, because he wasn't as sharp anymore. But his hearing had grown better after the days of blindness, and he knew it was a girl that was speaking.

His state of mind had been shrunken down to the thinking processes of prey. There was a predator coming towards him, and he wouldn't be able to do anything because he was bound to a wall. That was the way of the world, and that had always been. He was just too foolish back then to accept it. But now, he personally saw it, felt it. The pain in his feet and eyes and mind itself was altogether too lurid for him to ever forget. "Chung Seiker!"

It suddenly hit him. The memory of who had that voice returned to him in a flash.

He still denied the existence of another being in here, safe, though. It had to be one of them, mimicking her voice. There was no way, that after all this time, she would come and find him. Even the redheaded boy would have already deduced that he was dead.

And so, he kept quiet. He would accept his next punishment and wait for himself to erode away and die.

"You pathetic excuse of a guardian! Come out here at once, you shriveling piece of barnacle!"

Against his instincts, he croaked, "Eve...?"

"Seiker!"


	2. The Work of the World

**Chapter 2**

* * *

_~ The Work of the World ~_

* * *

"Seiker, is that you?" Her words came out a little quieter than she had intended them to be. She didn't want him to know that she was in fact shocked at the sight that assaulted her vision system.

He was covered dried salt water that kept continuously spraying him; his feet were torn to shreds, infections oozing yellow pus into the pool beneath him. The water appeared still and mirror-like for a fraction of a second until ripples disturbed the illusion.

Carnivorous fish, she noted with distaste. With a single snap of her fingers, a faint blue circle etched itself onto the rock in front of her. A moment later, a white shape leaped out of the portal and flashed away, only to reappear with a bow. The organisms had been left in raw slices, sinking into the shallow water. Her servant sheathed his sword and faded back into the separate dimension as she took a single step forward to check his state further.

Just a single step was enough to send him into several chilling sobs; his face contorted into one who had seen enough nightmares to last a millenia. The tears streamed down his pale, innocent face as he struggled madly against the chains that stopped him. She took in the scene with sad eyes of amber, for her noble comrade had been reduced to such a dismal state. Eve would never be able to comprehend how damaged his mind was, but could only predict so much.

Ignoring the saltwater that was staining her white boots, she stepped closer to him. By now he was almost like a feral animal, fighting with every inch of his life to escape from her prescence. His wrists were bloodied from his struggles, raw and red and splashing cerise all over the dull metal. Eve could watch no longer and closed her eyes.

She raised her hand and brought it down with relentless force upon his cheeks, the force swinging his head back to the other side. "Chung Seiker, White Wolf of Hamel, Deadly Chaser; you will get a hold of yourself. I am Eve Mavernia, Queen of Altera, Empress of the Nasods; your comrade who has built your beloved Silver Shooters with you. Please, do not fight. I am here to get you out. Calm your frayed nerves, you wild beast. Give me that determined, kind stare."

At this, he stopped. He raised his head and scrunched his face up, as if he were trying to conjure something. She knew that he was trying to look for her, but perhaps this cave was too dark for him to see in? "I-I can't," he rasped. "I...I..."

Facts were simple. They were not as jarring as the world usually thought them to be. They were statements without lie or falseness in them.

Truth was a horrible fact.

"Chung, are you...do not tell me..."

"It's too dark," was his reply. "I can't see."

Yes, that had to be it. The dimness of this wretched cave was not enough for him to see her. "I command you, do not struggle. I will get you out as soon as possible. I have already dispatched of the few, measly guards outside, therefore disturbances should not disrupt our leaving."

He said nothing in return to that, only gave the slightest of nods. He was shuddering so much, it was as if the whole cave was shaking along with him. Her drones, one black and one white, slowly drifted forward. Moby, the darker one, folded itself into a silver spear at her urge. With a swift slash, the chains and shackles fell off of him like stone.

He scrambled from the saltwater, wincing and limping as he did. His wounds were of severe matter, she concluded. It would take a long time for his physical injuries to heal.

Chung stumbled, and, too weak to catch himself, was met with a mechanical sound and arms. Before he could distinguish who it was, he spiraled into a deeper darkness.

* * *

Nightmares plagued his dreams. They weren't just dreams though; they were memories, memories that refused to leave and replayed over and over.

He jolted up, feeling something soft beneath him. His hand immediately wandered over the surface, and he recognized it. It sunk beneath the pressure his hand was putting on it, slightly papery to the touch. A bed.

The sheets covering his legs were smooth and silky, but none of these luxurious items calmed him down. He tore the blankets off of him and, ignoring the searing stinging in his feet, clambered out of the bed. It was all too close, too foreign to him now, too strange.

He felt himself sway and fall down, and he didn't know where to put his hands to stop the plummet. This world was the same in every angle and direction he looked in, with no guidance or light to help him. He ended up having his elbow hit the ground and left himself to be dazed.

The door slammed open and he jumped, instantly rolling up and backing until a wall was pressed against his back. That was right; this cold, wet, cave wall that was his prison. It left him with only one way out, but that was taken care of by living beings without heart. That was right; yesterday had just been a good dream, and today was another nightmare.

He wasn't aware that he had already curled up and began to sob until something-someone-touched his shoulder. At this, Chung jerked away, hugging his knees to his body protectively. "Chung, are you okay?"

Such a pointless question, Eve thought.

"W-Who-?!" He seemed to grow smaller by the second, as if he wanted to disappear from the world. His breathing was hitched and his voice sounded hysterical.

"It's..." She glanced at her for approval, molten gold eyes glittering worriedly. She nodded her consent. "I'm Rena Viridian, healing and fighting representative of the elves, Wind Sneaker. I'm here to...here to..." It was hard to get the words out. Rena didn't want to talk to him like he was mental and warped in the mind, but that was probably because he was. Everything at this point was so unpredictable and hazy that she was afraid that a single movement would shatter the fragile marksman. "Help you."

That was the best way she could put it, and it was partially true.

"Rena...?" he mumbled. "Uhm...where's everyone else...?"

Eve raised an eyebrow as her fingers tapped silently away at the keyboard in the air. She used her index finger to press Enter and watched as her notes saved into her files. Chung had already recovered enough to worry about everyone else?

"They'll come soon," she heard the elf promise. "Just making their way here right now."

He nodded absentmindedly and gradually relaxed. He stretched a hand to explore the place and found the edge of the bed. Rena shifted to help him when he froze completely. The Nasod shook her head, which was the cue for her to let him deal with this on his own. As if sensing another presence within the room, he called out, "Eve?"

"I am here," she said, making no signs of moving up.

"You know...I can't..."

"Yes, Seiker." She had even conducted a test on him while he was unconscious. The result was blackness. There was no light reaction from his eyes. "There is nothing we can do about that."

He gave another nod, this one more dumbfounded at the impact. Then he said, "I can't feel my right foot."

Her face remained emotionless and placid, but underneath couldn't be said the same. Dread flooded in from every circuitry, even as she said, "The infections." Just two words, openly plain, but more than enough to describe what happened and what was to happen.

He blanched even more now, his skin turning white, not just pale. He clenched his jaw in an attempt to not succumb to his fears again, but it was useless. He averted his blank azure gaze only to be facing Rena instead; she saw him full of tears, refreshed pain, and scars. Too many scars to ever erase.

"W...When...?" he whispered, like it was a terrible secret. And, to the people within this room at the moment, it was.

"While you were unconscious," she informed him, which only elicited another whimper. He buried his head into hands, his once-proud demeanor already withered away. There would have been times when he would brave the upcoming events with an iron resolve, but now, he wasn't able to withstand even a single touch to the shoulder.

"What has happened to me...," he whispered in a strained tone. "I can't see, I can't walk now, how am I supposed to protect all of you?!" His voice rose higher in volume as he began to vent it out. "How am I supposed to read books now?! I can't write, I can't tell where is where, and I'm completely pathetic! I-I-" He was back to sobbing. "I can barely even remember what Rena looks like. I can only remember that you have silver hair and eyes of goldenrod, Eve. Nothing else. I didn't think...I didn't think I deserved this..." Chung brushed the tears away, even if they came back.

"You do not," she stated. "No matter what you have ever done, you would not have deserved this. This is the work of the world. Time goes on, life ages, things break, organisms die, and we must all suffer through pain, humiliation, and obstacles. This should not be my right to say so, as I cannot feel what you are feeling as of the moment, but, Chung."

He made a slight movement that showed her he was listening.

"I will heal you."

* * *

**Thank** **you all of my reviewers! ^^ I didn't actually expect a single review. :3 I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Predict how this will come out, you may, and see if you strike any hidden chords. c; Evee-tsuni, out!**


	3. Anatomy

**Chapter 3**

* * *

_~ Anatomy ~_

* * *

Eve tinkered away inside of her lab, her normally-flat face scrunched up in concentration. She hadn't studied the human anatomy to the fullest, and she was paying for it now. The part she was building on required her to know everything about it, so every now and then, she flipped open a panel to look something up.

The strangest part that she thought would work was the nerve connecter. The wild idea had come flying to her the day after Chung had woken up, and even to her surprise, she had decided to make a blueprint of it. It seemed like it would function and be simple to build, but these past few days proved the Nasod horribly wrong. Even now, she was taking apart the whole thing and piecing it back together because of the nerve connector's positioning. It was cruical, seeing as it was the whole reason as to why her project would work.

She tucked a silver strand of hair behind her ear before she heard the distinctive sound of crutches coming down the hallway. Crutches, not a wheelchair, because he insisted. Eve glanced up to see Elsword guiding Chung along, whispering him directions for where to go. Lines were etched into the boy's face; whether it was from frustration at being blind and being unable to walk properly or exhaustion, she didn't know. "Hello, Seiker. How is your status?"

"It's..." Elsword let go of his shoulders, not the least bit worried about his companion. Perhaps they had some conversation that reassured him? He cast his dark scarlet eyes over to hers and looked away just as swiftly.

Perhaps not.

Chung gave a light laugh, the ones that he always did when no one else would. That was exactly what he was doing now, but they had sounded more sincere and genuine. This one was hollow and foreign to her ears. "I can't lie, can I?"

"You may if you wish to." She was saddened by her dear comrade's reaction to reality, but she didn't show it. In fact, she wouldn't allow herself to show it was more precise. She knew that he didn't want everyone to treat him like an injured toddler, that he wanted some of the normalcy from his untainted past back. So she kept her words sharp, blunt, and moreover, honest and devoid of pity.

Too polite, she noted dryly to herself.

"I still feel like I'm going to die," he said truthfully, instead of just coating it over with a "I'm feeling fine now, thanks." She was grateful for that, since she needed to know what her patient's status was.

"Are you any better?"

"...Maybe," he tentatively put out. "I don't know."

"Are you in pain?" She was back to working on it, grabbing a pair of delicate wires and attaching them to the nerve connector. Her irritation grew as she realized she had tripped up again-back to disassembling it was.

"Sometimes," was the answer.

This caused her to halt to a stop. "Sometimes?"

"Sometimes."

Eve withdrew a screwdriver from her drawer within the desk. "Seiker, ablutions."

He visibly tensed. "Um."

"Is something the matter?" Another glance up from her project to note his facial expression.

"Um." He couldn't get anything else out, and he heard a certain red-headed boy slap his hand to his face. In the days that went by, he began to listen to how things sounded. Rena had even dropped several items onto the ground and had him identify what each were, with only small errors. It was fairly recognizable now that Elsword was facepalming.

"Chung Um," she said calmly, and he swallowed. He could never tell when she was annoyed or outraged. There was a stark contrast between the two, and he braced himself for the tongue lashing that he would undoubtedly receive. "I will have Oberon escort you if you do not go."

"E-Eve!"

A snap of her fingers. "Oberon!"

"Eve!" Arms picked him up, one for his legs and one for his torso. "Please let me down!"

"You are showing signs of obvious rebellion," she said. The Empress stood up, her boots clacking as she strode closer to him. "If you will not agree to a queen's requests, then she will have to use means of force in order to have you fulfill her requirements." Elsword was chuckling somewhere off to the left, much to his dismay.

"Leave," she commanded before he heard her address to Elsword, "and you. Inferior mindless burning organism that wields a metal twig. You will assist me in creating this."

"E-Eh?! How?!"

"Use your runes, or your little spits of fire. Ophelia is not here as of the moment, therefore I direct that you assist me. You are currently under my property, on it, and using it. Do you have any objections?"

The small smile danced fleetingly across Chung's lips as Oberon left the room. It did not shock him one bit when he heard a childish squeal follow him out of the lab.

* * *

The water rushed out of the golden tap in the softly-lit bathroom, splashing into the collecting pool below. A thin veil of mist began to haze over in the compact space, but Oberon could easily pierce it with his vision.

"Oberon?" he heard the boy call out. There was a quiver in his words, although for what reason, the Nasod servant would never comprehend.

He couldn't speak. He was never built to do so by his mistress when she was younger, but he didn't mind. Oberon helped the boy undress and made sure he didn't fall or slip. This was simply a shower, or ablutions as his mistress called it.

It wasn't just a "simple" bath to Chung. Protesting to Eve wasn't a successful idea, and he had no desire to tell her anything worse about his condition. True, he didn't lie; he also didn't speak about it. It wasn't sugarcoating anything, but he regretted it. There was no use in trying to play brave now, not now that he was like this.

So he stood there and listened to the water rush into the tub.

The sound pounded itself into his head, and he instantly made the comparison to the waves. The little waves that came spilling in everyday, washing back out, and coming in the next. The water that made even the warmest of days cold, and was the reason as to why he was handicapped now. The tides that crashed against the rocks with a thunderous roar that drowned out his own cry. Because of the simple, simple water that he used to love, he could barely use his remaining foot to walk without wincing at the pain.

"I can't," he croaked, his voice suddenly hoarse and cracking. "Oberon, turn off the tap." The bile threatened to emerge, and he fought to keep everything down. The light breakfast he was served this morning was going to stay in his stomach, and he was going to have it be that way.

He was confused. Master Chung was requesting-no, demanding that he turned it off. But that would mean going against his empress's orders. He stood there, unsure of what to do, until a large clatter came from in front of him.

The boy had tried to grab the crutches and hail himself out, but of course he wasn't able to. At that instant, Oberon pushed his mistress's commands away and bent over the rushing water. His reflection stared back at him as his white gloved hand twisted the tap.

The bathroom was ominously silent. Chung shuddered as hands wrapped around his chest, lifting him up. He fumbled blindly for the crutches and felt his hand come in contact with the smooth metallic curve.

Hydrophobia, he thought darkly to himself as his grip on the crutches relaxed before letting go. In the separate, surreal part of his mind, he wondered when he was going to have his next shower. He had no answer to that.

Hugging his knees to his body, Chung put his head in the small nook that was created there. If he was going to live in constant fear, how was he going to help others? Would he be like this for the rest of his life, useless, bothersome, burdening? If so, what was the point of being alive? To be pitied?

He heard a splash and jerked out of his position. Something-presumably wet-dripped water everywhere onto the floor. Each patter sounded like rain to him, but by now he was spiraling back into a different dimension. A blacker world, one without a stain of light.

The-deep sea fish, he now realized-had leapt out of the water at him, but he sent them back with a kick. Why they were surviving in such a shallow pool, he had no idea, but he wished they would leave him alone. He was already heavily inflicted with pain, but his nervousness kept him awake. Chung hadn't slept for days, nights, how long, he didn't know. He just wanted to sleep-maybe even sleep forever, if his body let him. Then the wet slapping sounds announced the presence of the shadows. That was what their footsteps sounded like, he compared immediately. Like fish flying out of the water and flopping around on the ground.

Fear resonated throughout him like a distress call. He flinched when he felt a tendril of darkness creep into his unguarded mind, then begin to constrict it. He felt suffocated, so muggy, unable to breathe. It was so unbearable, not being able to breathe even though it was only his mind that was being influenced-

-a solid hand touched his face. It was tilting his head up, prepared to pour the burning fire into his eyes again. Just for the pain, not for the blindness. The pain-oh, the agony-he couldn't bear it anymore-how could he live-wasn't it time to die-hazy lights-the hand that was holding him in check while the substance was being spilt all over his eyes-

-he bit down on it, hard, enough to break good, solid glass.

Chung blinked. He could breathe, despite it being a little stuffy. He was not in pain. There was no one holding his head. Of course, he thought, sighing in relief. He was in the bathroom, and it was silent except for-

Who was it?

"...Seiker," came the quiet mention of his surname. "Do you have a tendency to consume...fingers, as you name it?"

So it was her fingers that he snapped off.

"Oh my El, Eve," he cried out, stretching around to look for her. She shoved her mangled hand into his reach and watched as he explored the damage he caused with his own. Several wires were disconnected in the middle, suddenly cut off. Her fourth, middle, and index fingers were missing, with only sparking stumps at the base. She observed his reaction with slight amusement. "Oh my El, I'm so sorry. Eve, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." He was at a loss for words, and could only repeat his apologies. Here she was, helping him get along with his sluggish days, and he bit her.

He bit her fingers off.

"It is quite alright," she said smoothly. "I do not feel the pain. This may be repaired easily. Do not fret. I may as well take this chance to modify my own anatomy, seeing as they were too fragile for my liking."

He was taken aback. Was Eve always this patient and light-hearted? Wasn't she always the serious, blunt, harsh Nasod who would never tolerate these kinds of acts?

"Oberon," he heard her say with a change in her voice. "Ophelia has returned."

Eve glared right through her servant. What was he doing, having her walk here for a task that he himself was not able to handle? The job she handed him was not complex. Oberon instantly flashed away, bowing repeatedly in frantic motions. "Ophelia," she muttered, snapping her left hand's fingers (seeing as her right's was missing.) "Regulate him."

The pink-dressed maid immediately appeared next to her, black boots gently touching the ground as the same golden eyes stared at Oberon's reflective black visor. Ophelia marched elegantly over to her male counterpart and dragged him by the neck all the way out of the bathroom, leaving the door to shut. A moment later, it swung open again, this time with a beaten Oberon at the handle. "Hmph. Chung, hasten to clothe yourself. We will be taking you back to the laboratory."

A slow, bright red color traveled across his face in the span of half a second. Was there something embarrassing that happened? Confused but not pressing upon the topic, she left the bathroom without another word. But outside of it, she said, "Oberon."

He hurried to comply.

Once back inside, he took care of Master Chung with delicate efficiency, dressing him and making sure he was quite alright. The boy was muttering things to himself the entire time, but the crimson on his face began to fade, much to the servant's relief. He let the water go down the drain when Master Chung said, "Thank you, Oberon."

Poor Oberon didn't know what for.

* * *

The laboratory's sharp, foreign scents bombarded Chung's sense of smell again as Ophelia led him inside. The ground was glass-smooth to his bare feet as he walked towards the sound of Eve. "Seiker." He could almost hear the frown.

"Hm...?"

"I require more data than this to complete the project." Now her nails were constantly tapping the edge of her table. If he were to extract a "feeling" out the gesture, he would have labeled it "worry," "anxiety," and "hesitation." The last word he didn't have a reason for, but it was just a part of the entire aura.

"What do you need?"

"...samples of nerves."

But where was she going to get them?

He waited for her to continue.

"I must go back to collect the guards' corpses, and you will not come with me."

* * *

**I pardon how I've been neglecting review responses these past two chapters Dx I'll be sure not to this chapter, sorry if I've disappointed you OAO**


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